Another glaring news headline
Another busy Naija street
That tells its story bit by bit
Each passing face a different tale
Measured out on a different scale:
The strange, ignorant passer-by
That amuses my idle eye,
The old sentry doing his beat
Smoking stubs in the noonday heat,
Jobless graduates at the Newsstands
Each morning, idly they stand
And analyse, ten topics each
From Pat’s English to Jona’s speech
An evangelist saunters by
Oversized shirt, incongruous tie
“The Master is still on the throne!”
He shouts into his megaphone
A coggling toddler showers dirt
At native fowls scratching earth
He’s looking smug as a stray dog,
His last victim, hobbles along
A young relentless applicant
Promptly leaves a cheap restaurant
The frown on his face spells regret
As he seeks the nearest toilet
A drunk waves his arms lazily
At houseflies buzzing noisily
He yawns, followed by a hiccup
Then giggles at his table top
Up in an internet café
Someone Google’s his school essay
A new Facebook user clicks “Like”
On her own status, and types “nice.”
A traffic warden holds his head
Frustration etched on his forehead
Taxis honking, traffic building
Exhausts smoking, drivers pleading
Street hawkers rant as they putter
“Fresh garden eggs!” “Sachet water!”
School ends early, children head back
With full stomachs, empty food flasks
Busybodies in hair salons
Weave old tales and new gossip tunes
Housewives watch with rapt attention
Home videos, favourite station
Evening soccer, neighborhood teams
Local champions, overseas dreams,
Loudspeakers steal the evening’s peace
Broadcasting the Midweek Service
A young author writes a story
A child recites a poem slowly
An old man is falling in love
With his grandchild, “sent from above”
High up, beneath the fading sun
The flag that makes these stories one
In peace and battle, thick and thin
Is ever waving green white green
Written by: Uzuazo Onwah
